Journalism has always been a fraught industry. It is the job of reporters to tell uncomfortable truths about powerful government and business leaders, and this can sometimes put them in a dangerous position.

Journalists who want to protect themselves and their sources need to make sure that their communications cannot be intercepted by corporate or government surveillance, and (as WIRED recently argued) the best way to do this is through encrypted messaging apps like ChatMail Secure.

Because ChatMail is increasingly the most popular encrypted messaging app for users across business and government sector, journalists who want to ensure that they have access to the gold standard of encryption should consider getting an Android smartphone encrypted using ChatMail's CAMP protocol.

There are a few things that make ChatMail different from the other forms of encryption currently available on the market today, but here are the three most significant:

Functionality

For years, journalists complained that encryption came at the cost of functionality. While emails encrypted using popular tools like PGP couldn't be cracked, the software was often cumbersome to use. In an industry where being able to contact sources and relay information at high speeds is essential, traditional encryption tools offered security at the cost of usability.

What makes ChatMail different is the wide range of tools it makes available. Users can send and receive chat messages, voice messages, and images - all of which are protected by encryption - and they can even engage in group chats or anonymous group chats.

Flexibility

Journalists are regularly put into situations where they need to be able to quickly adapt to changing circumstances. For this reason, a journalist need to count on their encrypted smartphone to be able to function in a variety of different circumstances.

ChatMail's integrated interface allows users to operate two different types of encryption, always defaulting to the strongest. This means that when journalists are communicating with other contacts using ChatMail's CAMP protocol, they are using the latest Elliptical Curve Cryptography, but they can also use PGP encryption with sources and contacts that aren't using ChatMail.

Cutting-Edge Security Tools

At the end of the day, decisions about which encryption tools are better will come down to which are more secure. While the encryption protocols themselves are obviously important, there are other things to consider as well, like where and how data is stored, and for how long.

One of the things that distinguishes ChatMail from its competitors is the fact that it doesn't store any data on servers. Everything is stored on the phone itself, and old messages are set to delete automatically after a period of one, two, three, five, or seven days. This guarantees that outside parties have absolutely no way of intercepting or decrypting any information sent using a ChatMail phone.

Journalists face greater danger now than they have in decades, and many within the industry are arguing that encryption is absolutely essential for the safety and wellbeing of reporters.

With the range of threats to journalists only projected to become more serious in the year to come, now is the time for journalists to protect themselves with the most powerful and versatile encrypted smartphones on the market.